Dancing Men
by itsnotametaphor
Summary: Hitler, Mindless Cannibals, and an Amazon warehouse. Mindless Cannibals is a fancy word for zombies. Also includes Will Darcy and Libby Bennet facing a series of sprained ankles, Mazda's with good mileage, and sometimes sweet moments. Hitler does not make an appearance as a zombie. Also Will and Libby are not yet a couple, just partners fighting against mindless cannibals. WIP


The plan was, at first, to create the ultimate race. They basically took a page from Hitler's Mein Kampf and decided to create 'A Perfect Human', which in their mind, was a Caucasian with blue eyes, blond hair and no future slash past or current disease. I suppose they favored recessive genes.

They first experimented with machines that would split apart the 'bad parts' of a forming human. They were not successful, the child died within five hours into "conception", or rather creation. The genetic engineering team rubbed their heads together and then they came up with the most brilliant plan.

They tried again with a better machine, one that would host the creature until they deemed it safe enough to let it out.

It was a success.

For the first three decades, everything was well. More "Ary's" as they were called were put into production. The world was starting to look more like a mayonnaise jar. People protested against the Ary's, they screamed of overpopulation. People were starting to question the Ary's, why did they make these 'perfect humans'? People thought that soon Hitler's dream would come true, people were scared and angered. And then these 'perfect humans' started to change. People were even more frightened after this change.

It was like a slow descent into a dark tunnel. You kept getting deeper and deeper wondering when you'd see the light when you realized, it was 12 pm on a moonless night.

The first cases of the diseased 'Arys' were in the major cities, pollution and disease being at its highest. In New York, an Ary girl killed her family while they slept, she then proceeded to consume them. When authorities questioned her, she would only say she had to, or else they would turn. The major question asked was 'Turn into what?"

It was not answered.

The company who created her was sued by her remaining family and she was injected with enough poison to kill a small city.

"We recognize how this could be mistaken as our problem, but perhaps the girl was a simple murderer?" The company questioned, and then the discussion of Nature vs. Nurture was broached and the nation shrugged and accepted the explanation. Some remained skeptical, our protagonist being one of the many.

Then, not a week later, a Chicago man ran rampant through the city and witnesses said when another man bumped into him he tore out his jugular, "With his teeth!" a witness explained as she looked into the screen horrified.

The company merely shrugged it off and named his malady, insanity. The nation moved on. But she knew, she always knew.

She worked on the inside, artfully disguised as a creator. She knew when the company worked harder to find out what went wrong, that they didn't believe their lies. She knew when the companies covered up some of the attacks, most in the low parts of town.

"They kept vaults," she later explained, "downstairs. Only creators were allowed to visit. The wrong ones, the ones who came out 'angry' and had the disease. They experimented with them every day, but then they started biting, hurting."

A month later and more reports were being drowned out by the company, yet they worked diligently to provide a cure.

But it was too late. The disease the Ary's had developed seemed to grow and overpower their minds.

"Reports of a breakout in New York. The city is under siege. Accounts of nearly fifty deaths all in the hands of the Arys. The city is under evacuation. The Arys have ran rampant." She listened for news of a cure, of course there was none.

This was the result.

Then they all started biting, most consumed. It was a week before the 'normals' who had gotten bitten started changing. That week, everything changed.

"Run! Keep running! Go, they won't stop!" She had yelled to her partner, as he nearly tripped.

They kept running into the woods, out of breath, scared out of their minds. They were _temporarily_ lost.

One year is a long time to those who have survived the last previous shitty years. One year can make you mad.

"Happy New Year, Libby." He said in that voice she hated, the weak one.

"I hope this one is better than the last." She responded indifferently as she scratched at her mosquito bite.

"You would think with the world in utter shit the mosquitoes would stop biting, at least for our sakes." Will said in attempt at levity, she smiled.

"Happy 365." She got up off the log and dusted her jeans. Will mimicked her actions, except he winced when a pain made him land on his ass.

"Shit!" He grabbed at his ankle, cursing more bitterly as he gently took off his left shoe.

And there go her perfectly laid plans for a hasty departure to safety, she thought as he tentatively poked his swollen ankle. "Fuck Will, you have to be more careful. That's your second sprain this month." She knelt down to inspect it, she had been a doctor at a free clinic for a few years. "This delays plans."

"What's your plan of action then, Doc?" He asked with a grunt as he moved to sit back down.

"We could hot wire a car, take a look for abandoned buildings and get that ankle rested before we move east." She placed his foot back down and started to pack. The woods were not a safe place to be at night anyways, she thought. A place where they lurk at night, where they bite.

"Alright, I think if he head back this way we could find the highway." Will pointed a direction in the trees, where he could see traces of their tracks.

"Right, come on. I will help you. If we encounter Ary's on the way I will take care of them just sit back and watch the master. It's daylight anyway, most of them can't handle the sun." She explained as they set off.

"You know, you never did tell me how you know so much about them. We have been partners in survival for a year and all I know about you is that you have a sister and parents. And you were a doctor."

"Yeah, that's odd." She replied as they moved. She was careful to not make too much noise, but with Will stumbling along it was nearly impossible.

"Deflecting the question in pure Libby style. Typical." He ran one hand through his hair again and laughed.

"Shhh, you'll wake them. They're attracted to noise, remember." He instantly quieted and they moved along.

"No, this one gets better mileage, and it looks way better." He looked at the grey Mazda and grinned. She thought he could be a good advertiser for Mazda's, he always looked for them whenever they searched for cars.

"Fine, do you see keys? Do you think they were bit? If so, I think you'd find keys, why would one of them take keys?" She heard him hop into the passenger seat and grinned, of course it had keys.

"Must have been an Ary car. All traces of them are gone." He looked through the glove box and whistled as he pulled out a glimmering colt.

"Shiny." Libby said as he gave it to her, "You're going to need to learn how to kill, some of these days. You can't always be my bait, maim them and let me do all the work, we have to wipe them out. We have to win." Libby switched on the car and the purr of the engine calmed them.

"After I get better, I promise." He settled into the seat with a groan, his black hair pushed out of his face with his hands.

"Let's head south, we can get you settled and I can go on a supply run. We can't head back to base empty handed, we might be demoted to gate watch again." Libby scowled and Will sighed, he had actually like gate patrol; it was calm. Except for the few sighting of the Ary's, it was nice. But he had to stay with Libby, make sure she didn't get into too much trouble. She saved his life, he owed her.

"Are you listening to me? Will, I'm serious you gotta watch your step, stop being so clumsy. I swear, you'll be the death of me." Will just grinned and was reminded of all the times his mother had scolded him. And then he frowned, that day his mother had been bitten. She'd come home fine enough, but then-

"Will! You need to pay attention more. I'm sorry for acting like a nanny, but I'm serious." Libby felt his hand in her left and she immediately placed that hand on the wheel. She wasn't used to gentle touches anymore.

"I'm sorry. I promise I will pay more attention and be more careful." He smiled as she glanced at him. And that made it all better.

"Are you cold at all? Do you need my extra sweater? It's in my pack." She asked as she locked the back entrance to the cabin they were in.

"Yeah, it's freezing." He shivered in the bed, his foot propped up on pillows. She took out the sweater and extra socks and covered him; he smiled gratefully.

"You're so needy." She grinned and took her place on the couch right next to him.

"You should join me." He held out a hand to her.

"I need to remain alert. What if one of them happens to hear any of us, they might come in through the windows. They might catch us off guard." She patted his head and sank into the couch and stared at the entrance.

"You always take care of me." He whispered as time passed.

"You would do the same. You have been doing it for a whole year. You never let me go out on a supply run alone. It's always us." She smiled gently at him, her partner.

"That's probably the sweetest thing I have ever heard you say, except for that one time when you called me a little shit for bringing you that nerdy comic." He winced as he shifted to get a better look at her. Her face was turned towards the entrance and he could see her perfect profile in the dim moonlight coming in through the small window. She had gentle smile on her face, as if remembering a pleasant event.

"You're my partner." She turned to him then, only to chuckle at his dopey expression and start to run her fingers through his hair, it always made him relaxed and sleepy. He needed sleep.

"You're trying to make me sleep so I don't bother you. It's working." He then closed his eyes and Libby felt calm as she saw him, sleepy smile on his face as he drifted off. Those blue eyes shutting and his brows relaxing. She never regretted saving him, without him she would be alone.

"I locked all the back doors and put a bookshelf to keep it that way. This front door will be the only way in, I boarded the windows. You have to keep quiet and calm. If one of them come through you must hit for the spine, then the head. Or the neck if it's coming towards you. You got it?" She explained as she gave him the baseball bat with multiple nails sticking out its tip.

"Spine, head. Neck, head. Yes." He recited as he settled into the bed and ate his peanuts.

"Right, stay quiet." He proceeded to make a show of eating his peanuts quieter, she continued, "I don't want to come back to you dead or harmed. Give me until the place is getting a bit dark but not dark enough so that it can qualify as night. If I'm not back by then, you need to stay here till morning and if I'm not back by then, you need to get better. I will leave the provisions here and be safe." She looked at him worriedly and quickly head out.

Will settled into the bed, she would always return. He heard the car start and he wondered how many times she would have to give him the worried speech. He worried for her all the time, she worried for him too, and that he was sure of; else she wouldn't have to recite that god damned speech every time she left him alone. She probably knew it by heart.

So, reviews? I will go more into the story in the next chapter. I have some chapters already written, but this is a work in progress. Please review!


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